Movie enthusiasts were excited when Akshay Kumar announced the third installment of the Welcome franchise, Welcome To The Jungle. The announcement video featured a pleasant surprise with the beloved duo Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi standing alongside Akshay. However, their excitement turned to disappointment when rumors began circulating that Sanjay Dutt had left the project. These reports have now been confirmed, but contrary to speculation, Dutt's departure is not due to any disagreement with co-star Akshay Kumar.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, a source revealed that Sanjay Dutt withdrew from Welcome 3 months ago due to the physical demands of the action scenes after his long battle with cancer. The source said, 'Sanjay was very enthusiastic about the film and had even started shooting. Unfortunately, after completing just one day of filming in Madh Island a few months back, he informed the director that he couldn't continue due to health reasons following his battle with cancer and subsequent treatments. Although Welcome 3 is a masala movie filled with humor, it also involves a lot of action (Sanjay's character had a lot of action in the movie), which he didn't anticipate and found himself unable to perform.'
Arshad Warsi, who was excited to reunite with his Munna Bhai co-star, had to adjust to the change when Suniel Shetty stepped in to replace Dutt. The source added, 'Arshad (Warsi) was quite happy to reconnect with his Munna Bhai co-star, however, it did not work out. As soon as Sanjay informed the team about his decision, Suniel Shetty stepped up to fill in for the former's role. The filming is almost done and the crew is surprised as to why this negative news has been circulating now because all of this happened many months ago.'
Besides Akshay, Arshad, and Suniel, Welcome 3 features an ensemble cast including Raveena Tandon, Lara Dutta, Jacqueline Fernandez, Disha Patani, Paresh Rawal, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, and Krushna Abhishek. Directed by Ahmed Khan, the film is scheduled to release in theaters this December.
